F 44 
.H45 
W47 
Copy 1 



Haverhill, N. H. 

in the 

War of the Revolution 



HAVERHILL IN THE WAR OF THE 
REVOLUTION 

By William F^.^Ykitcher 

Piesented at the Annual Meeting of the N. H. Society, S. A. R., in Concord May 14, 1912. 



Haverhill was chartered as a town- 
ship May 18, 1763. Its settlement 
had been begun, under promise of this 
charter, the previous year. It was 
the northernmost settlement of the 
province, and the nearest on the south, 
\Vas Charlestown, then called Number 
Four, on the Connecticut and Canter- 
bury on the Merrimac. 

In the ten years following the 
charter the town had a prosperous 
growth, and a census taken in 1773 
gave it a population of 387, classified 
as follows: unmarried men between 
the ages of 16 and 60, 30: married 
men between the ages of 16 and 60, 
66: men over 60, one: unmarried 
females, 112; married, 66; widows, 3; 
negro slaves, 2. 

During this period of ten years, con- 
siderable settlements had been made 
at Lebanon, Canaan, Cockersmouth 
(now Groton), Hanover, Lyme, Or- 
ford, Piermont, Bath, Landaff, Gun- 
thwaite (now Lisbon), Lancas- 
ter, Northumberland, Conway, 
Went worth, Rumne}^, Thornton and 
Plymouth in the County incorporated 
under the name of Grafton, but 
Haverhill was by far the most impor- 
tant town, notwithstanding the fact 
that Hanover had become the seat 
of Dartmouth College, was rapidly 
growing and was soon to lead in point 
of population if not of influence. 

The importance of Haverhill had 
been recognized by the Royal Govern- 
ment, by making it in January, 1773, 
the shire town of Grafton County 
which had been incorporated two 
years earlier, but was not organized 
till 1773. John Hurd, Asa Porter, 
Moses Little and Bezaleel Woodward, 
Esquires were on May 18, appointed 
as Justices of His Majestys Inferior 
Court for the County. Of these the 
three first named w^ere of Haverhill, 



but the latter declining to serve for 
business reasons, David Hobart of 
Plymouth was appointed in his place. 

The population of the town in 
April 1786 according to a census then 
taken was 478. It is hardly probable 
that the population at any one time 
during the years 1775-1783, exceeded 
425, and yet during that period no 
less than 119 men and boys of the 
town did active military service as 
soldiers in the struggle for Independ- 
ence. 

Aside from the three men who held 
commissions as colonels, John Hurd, 
Timothy Bedel and Charles Johnston, 
seven were commissioned as captains 
and commanded companies, while 
109 served in subordinate capacities 
as officers or in the ranks. 

In the company of Rangers autho- 
rized by the Provincial Congress, 
May 26, 1775, mustered June 23 under 
Timothy Bedel as Captain, increased 
in July to a battalion of three com- 
panies under the same command, there 
were 15 Haverhill men, This bat- 
talion grew into a regiment, and was 
under command of Col. Bedel at the 
fall of St. Johns in November 1775, 
its term of service expiring about that 
time. 

In the regiment authorized by the 
House of Representatives in January, 
1776, Timothy Bedel, Colonel, which 
was assigned to the Northern Con- 
tinental Army, and whose field of 
service was in Canada at St. Johns, 
The Cedars and elsewhere, in the 
spring and summer of 1776, there 
were 25 men from Haverhill. 

In May, Benj. Whitcomb's Rangers, 
Avhich some of the time acted as a 
company of Independent Rangers, 
some of the time served in the Con- 
tinental service by authority of Con- 
gress, organized a part of the time as a 



134 



The Granite Monthly 






company and a part as a battalion, 
and which was in service from Oct. 
15, 1776 to Dec. 31, 1779, there were 
six Haverhill men. 

There were sixteen Haverhill men 
serving at various times in Col. 
Stark's regiment at Bunker Hill, in 
other New Hampshire regiments dur- 
ing the siege of Boston, in Col. 
Scammel's Continental battalion, and 
in other New Hampshire commands 
in the Continental line during the war. 

In Col. Oilman's regiment at 
Peekshill, N. Y. during the winter of 
1776 and '77 were eight Haverhill 
men. 

One Haverhill man, Eleazer Dan- 
forth, was in Arnold's fateful expedi- 
tion to Quebec, and two in Col. 
Warner's regiment in the Jerseys in 
1775. 

In Col. Hobart's regiment, in 
Gen. John Stark's brigade, at Ben- 
nington there were seven. 

In Capt. Joseph Hutchihs company', 
which served under command of Gen. 
Jacob Bayly, in the Eastern division 
of the Northern Army under Gen. 
Gates from Aug. 17 to Oct. 3, 1777, 
there were twenty, including Capt. 
Hutchins, from Haverhill. 

An expedition was planned against 
Canada in the latter part of 1777 and 
it was ordered by Congress to be 
raised by Col. Timothy Bedel. This 
regiment ^of eight companies, five of 
which were commanded by Haverhill 
men — Ezekiel Ladd, Timothy Barren, 
Simeon Stevens, William Tarleton 
and Luther Richardson— was raised 
in December, 1777 and January and 
February 1778, and after the aban- 
donment of the plan of the expedition, 
the organization was continued under 
the same command for the defence of 
the frontiers on and adjacent to 
Connecticut River, until Nov. 30, 
1779. The muster rolls of some of 
these companies have been lost, but 
in those which have been preserved 
the names of sixteen Haverhill men 
appear. 

In Col. Moses Hazen's regiment 
organized under act of Congress 
March 15, 1779 and in Gen. Hazens 



later command in 1782, there were 
eight Haverhill men. 

In order to guard the Western and 
northern frontiers and probably also 
to preserve peace and order in mat- 
ters arising out of the so-called Ver- 
mont controversy, it was voted by 
the General Assembly Jan. 10, 1782, 
that Col. Charles Johnston be "im- 
powered to raise twelve men as a 
scouting party," that the place of 
rendezvous be Haverhill, and that he 
be desired to call on the town of 
Haverhill for supplies for the men. 
In accordance with this act, James 
Ladd, of Haverhill, raised these men 
who went on duty in April. June 26, 
the same year, it was voted that two 
companies of good-able, bodied, effec- 
tive men of fifty each, exclusive of 
commissioned officers be raised im- 
mediately for the same service, that 
both companies be under the direction 
of Col. Charles Johnston, the place of 
rendezvous to be Haverhill, that 
James Ladd be a lieutenant of one of 
these companies and that the men 
whom he had previously enlisted 
under the act of Jan. 10 be added to 
the same company. Ebenezer Web- 
ster of Salisbury was captain of the 
first company which was in service 
till Nov. 5, 1782, and which contained 
twenty-seven men from Haverhill. 

Haverhill also furnished five men 
for longer or shorter periods of service 
in New York regiments and four in 
Massachusetts regiments. 

Many of these one hundred and 
nineteen men saw service two or three 
times as most terms of enlistment 
were short. The number of enlist- 
ments, as just named was 356 and 
this, from a town the population of 
which at no time in the period extend- 
ing from 1775 to 1783 numbered as 
many as 450. It maj^ be doubted if 
any New Hampshire town can in this 
respect show a superior if indeed an 
equal record. Many of these men it 
is true were never on the firing line, 
never engaged in battle, were in no 
long campaigns, but they rendered 
arduous, self-sacrificing military serv- 
ice in their countrj-'s cause. 



Haverhill in the War of the Revolution 



135 



The conditions existing in the Coos 
country of which Haverhill was the 
recognized political and military cen- 
ter were peculiar. The Coos towns 
had been chartered by His Majesty's 
governors, were a part of New Hamp- 
shire, but this part was largely nomi- 
nal. Previous to the termination of the 
Royal Government no town in the 
Coos country, or on the Connecticut 
river had been represented in the 
House of Representatives except 
Charlesto^Ti, which was first repre- 
sented in 1771. For the House of 
1775, members were elected for the 
towns of Plymouth, Orford and 
Lyme by virtue of the King's writ. 
These members were refused seats on 
the ground that the writ had been 
issued without the Concurrence of 
the other branches of the Legislature, 
and this refusal led to an acrimonious 
dispute between the Governor and the 
House. The Governor stood on the 
royal prerogative, and the House upon 
its right to regulate its own member- 
ship, and grant the privilege of repre- 
sentation as it saw fit. A large 
number of towns in the northern and 
western section of the Province were 
aggrieved at the denial of represen- 
tation, and this brought about results 
which later threatened the integrity 
of 'the state. Many of those who had 
settled in the Coos towns were men of 
eulture and influence, and they natur- 
ally paid little heed to legislative 
enactments in which they had no 
voice. 

John Hazen, James Bailey, Ephraim 
Wesson, Timothy Bedel had rendered 
honorable service as officers in the 
French and Indian wars. John Hurd, 
Asa Porter, graduates of Harvard 
college, Charles Johnston, John Tap- 
lin, Ezekiel Ladd, Jonathan Elkins, 
James Woodward, Moses Little, Tim- 
othy Barron, Joseph Hutchins, Maxi 
Haseltine, Jonathan Hale, Simeon 
Goodwin, Thomas Simpson and An- 
drew Savage Crocker were men of 
substance, of sturdy New England 
stock, of liberal and independent 
views, zealous for personal rights and 
liberty and with the exception of 



Hazen, founder of the town, who died 
in the autumn of 1774, were all prom- 
inent in the affairs of the town during 
the Revolutionary period. 

At the outset the town was prompt 
to take measures for defense. The 
records of the town meetings, annual 
and special, are scanty, but they fur- 
nish much of significance. At a. 
special meeting held Nov. 4, 1774, it 
was voted to provide a town stock 
of ammunition and to raise 20 I. 
lawful money for that purpose. At 
another special meeting held January 
5, 1775, a special committee consisting 
of James Bay ley, Capt. Ephraim 
Weston, Capt. Charles Johnston, 
Simeon Goodwin, Timothy Barron, 
Lieut. Joseph Hutchins and Maxi 
Haseltine were appointed to see that 
the results of the Continental Con- 
gress were duly observed in the town. 
It will be noted that it is "the results 
of the Continental Congress," and 
nowhere in the town records is there 
any reference to the Provincial Con- 
gress or the House of Representatives 
of New Hampshire. Moreover Hav- 
erhill does not appear to be repre- 
sented in any of the Provincial Con- 
gresses held in 1775 and 1776 except 
the Fourth and Fifth, when Ephraim 
Wesson and John Hurd were members 
of the Fourth, and John Hurd of the 
Fifth in which he represented the 
towns of Haverhill, Bath, Lyman, 
Gunthwaite, Landaff and Morris- 
town. Just how or when Hurd and 
Capt. Wesson were elected as mem- 
bers does not appear, however, from 
the town records. At the March 
town meeting 1776, Thomas Simpson, 
Asa Bayley and John Page were 
chosen a Committee of Safety, and 
in 1778, James Woodward, James 
Abbott, James Corliss, Jonathan Hale 
and Maxi Hazeltine were chosen to 
act in the same capacity. At a 
special meeting January 6, 1778, it was 
voted to supply the families of those 
who were in the Continental service. 
In 1780 Timothy Bedel, John Rich 
James Woodward were appointed a 
committee to prevent the transporta- 
tion of any grain from town. 



136 



The Granite Monthly 



May 2, 1775. at the house of 
Joseph Hutchins, mnholder in Ha- 
verhill, committees from the towns 
of Lyme, Orford, Piermont, Bath, 
Gunthwaite, Lancaster, Northumber- 
land and Haverhill met in joint ses- 
sion and signed the following pledge: 

"We, the subscribers, do solemnly 
declare by all the sacred ties of honor 
and religion that we will act at all 
times against all illegal and unconsti- 
tutional impositions and acts of Par- 
liament made and enacted against 
the New England governments, and 
the continent of English North Amer- 
ica." And we do engage to stand in 
opposition to all force come, or coming 
against us, by order of the present 
ministry, for supporting of flie present 
measures, while our lives and fortunes 
last, or until all these notorious un- 
constitutional acts are repealed and 
the American colonies re-established 
in the privileges due to them as 
American subjects." 

This pledge w^as signed on behalf 
of Haverhill by Charles Johnston, 
Timothy Barron, Simeon Goodwin 
and James Bayley. It was voted 
that a copy of the proceedings of 
the meeting be transmitted by the 
clerk to the Provincial Congress 
which was to meet at Exeter May 17, 
and Ezekiel Ladd was appointed a 
delegate to represent these commit- 
tees in that Congress. The clerk, 
Charles Johnston, accompanied his 
report with a letter which shows the 
danger which Haverhill and the other 
towns believed threatened them and 
from which they sought relief. 

After mentioning the reports that 
men were being invited by Gov. 
Carlton of Quebec, and that Lidians 
were being engaged for the purpose 
of invasion of Coos, he wrote: "How 
near the borders of the enemj^ w^e are, 
every one knows who is acquainted 
with the boundaries of our Province. 
As to the position of defence, we are 
in difficult circumstances; we are in 
want of both arms and ammunition. 
There is very little or none worth 
mentioning, perhaps one pound of 
powder to twenty men, and not one 



half of our men have arms. Now, 
gentlemen, we have all reason to 
suspect, and really look upon our- 
selves in imminent danger of the 
enemy, and at this time in no ca- 
pacity for a defence for want of arras 
and ammunition . . . We refer 
the matter to your mature consider- 
ation, whether it is not necessary to 
give us assistance, that we may be 
ready in case of invasion. We have 
a number of men in these parts of 
the country who have not any real 
estate, who will certainly leave us 
unless some assistance be given; and 
who are ready to assist and stand by 
our cause with their lives, provided 
encouragement is given them. If you 
shall think it necessary to raise forces 
to defend this our Province, if you 
will give orders in what manner as- 
sistance can be procured, please to 
inform us as expeditiously as the 
nature of things will allow. There is 
no doubt of enlisting numbers without 
distressing or much interfering with 
towns near the seacoasts, provided we 
have the platform to act on." What 
was wanted was some color of author- 
ity on which to act. 

In response to this appeal the 
Provincial Congress voted June 3, 
"that a company of sixty men be 
raised of the inhabitants of the 
western frontiers to be commissioned 
by the Committee of Safety, and 
that these and two companies out 
of the two thousand men raised in 
this colony be stationed, as soon as 
the Committee of Supplies procure 
stores for them by the Committee of 
Safety, on said frontiers and remain 
until further orders." Timothy Bedel 
was appointed to the command of 
these companies. July 7 he was 
commissioned Captain, and later in 
the month mustered his men at 
Haverhill, which was made the place 
of rendezvous. In September he 
marched with a greatly enlarged 
force to join the army of Maj.-Gen. 
Schuyler, who Avas investing St. 
Johns, Canada. This command, with 
which he rendered brilliant service, 
numbered, at the fall of St. Johns, 



Haverhill in the War of the Revolution 



137 



November 2, about 1,200 men, en- 
listed from the towns in the Coos 
comitry and the western frontiers, 
with some Green Momitain boys and 
Indians. What Haverhill wished for, 
in common with the other Coos 
towns, was authority, and, though 
the men authorized to be raised for- 
defence were used for aggressive pur- 
poses, it was little more than au- 
thority that was given. So seemingly 
neglectful were the Exeter authorities 
in making provision for Col. Bedel's 
troops, that, down to the fall of St. 
Johns, it was uncertain whether his 
command belonged to the military 
establishment of the province or that 
of the Continental government, the 
result being that both governments 
neglected to pay his men. This 
neglect was probably partly clue to 
lack of ability. Thus at the begin- 
ning and indeed all through the 
struggle for independence Haverhill 
and her sister towns felt that they 
had little to expect in the way of 
material aid from the Exeter govern- 
ment. 

In the Fourth Provincial Congress 
which met May 17, 1775 and was fi- 
nally dissolved November 15, Ephraim 
Wesson was in attendance fifty-nine 
days and John Hurd six days. This 
Congress had provided for a census 
to be taken of the province and, 
based on this census, for another 
Congress to be elected to meet at 
Exeter December 21, 1775. This 
latter Congress was to consist of 
eighty-nine members, apportioned ac- 
cording to population, and Grafton 
County, which embraced the present 
counties of Grafton and Coos and 
part of Carroll, was to be restricted 
to six members. Bath, Lyman, 
Gunthwaite, Landaff and Morristown 
were classed with Haverhill, and 
Col. John Hurd of Haverhill was 
chosen the member from these towns, 
though no record of his election is 
found in any of the towns. It was 
provided that in case the Continental 
Congress should recommend this col- 
ony to assume government in any 
way that would require a House of 



Representatives, the Congress might 
resolve itself into such a House for 
the term of one year. Col. Hurd was 
beyond question one of the most 
prominent and useful members of 
this body. He was a man of marked 
personality and exerted a dominating 
influence in Haverhill and Grafton 
County during the early years of the 
Revolutionary period. He had re- 
ceived a liberal education, graduating 
at Harvard in the Class of 1747. 
Removing to Portsmouth some time 
after 1760, he became one of the 
coterie of friends and advisors of 
John Went worth, when he came to 
the governorship in 1767, who gave 
him large grants of land in various 
towns in the northern part of the 
State. He came to Haverhill in the 
latter part of 1772, and at once took 
a leading part in the affairs of the 
town. He had a large acquaintance 
in Rockingham County, was prob- 
ably more familiar with the general 
affairs of the province and had more 
influence with His Majesty's govern- 
ment at Portsmouth than any other 
resident of Coos. When, however, it 
came to a choice between the cause 
of the Colony and the King, he did 
not for a moment hesitate, and took 
at once a pronounced position. When 
the Provincial Congress in June 1775 
determined that John Fenton was no 
longer to be trusted with the records 
of the Grafton Courts, they were 
placed in the custody of Col. Hurd 
for safekeeping, and he was con- 
tinued as colonel of the militia 
which had been enrolled in Coos 
for purposes of defence. When the 
Congress met in December 1775, he 
at once took a prominent part in its 
proceedings. He was a member of 
the committee appointed to draw up 
a plan of government, a committee 
which framed the first civil compact 
or constitution for New Hampshire. 
He was chairman of the committee 
to draft a form of oath to be entered 
into by members of the new govern- 
ment, and also of a committee to 
audit accounts against the colony. 
The temporary constitution which 



138 



The Granite Monthly 



went into effect January 5, 1776, 
provided that after resolving itself 
into a House of Representatives, the 
said House should choose twelve per- 
sons to be a distinct and separate 
branch of the Legislature, by the 
name of a Council. Under this pro- 
vision Col. Hurd was chosen on the 
councillor to which the County of 
Grafton was entitled and he there- 
upon vacated his seat in the House. 
The old county offices were held to 
be abolished and the Legislature pro- 
ceeded to establish others. Col. Hurd 
was continued in his office as first 
justice of the inferior Court of Com- 
mon Pleas, his associates being Beza- 
leel Woodward, Israel Morey and 
Samuel Emerson. He was also chosen 
county treasurer and recorder of 
deeds and conveyances. In the 
Council he took a leading position, 
serving on its most important com- 
mittees; among others, first on the 
committee appointed June 11, 1776, 
to draft the declaration of the gen- 
eral assembly for the independence 
of the United Colonies. He was also 
given pretty much the entire control 
of the military operations in Coos. 
Haverhill was made the place of ren- 
dezvous for soldiers intended for 
service in Canada, and Col. Hurd 
with Col. Morey was to enlist the 
companies, muster and form the men, 
give orders to the companies of 
rangers raised to protect the frontiers 
and deliver commissions to those 
whom the soldiers had chosen as their 
officers. 

The Legislature adjourned July 6, 
and Col. Hurd founcl affairs in Ha- 
verhill in anj-thing but a satisfactory 
state on his arrival home. The 
American soldiers in Canada were 
retreating before the superior force 
of Gen. BurgojTie. Col. Bedel who 
had in the previous January-, return- 
ing from Canada to Haverhill, raised 
in the Coos County a second regiment 
and taken it through the woods on 
snowshoes to "the Cedars" near 
Montreal, was under arrest, and 
shortly to be dismissed from the 
service. A great state of alarm ex- 



isted. Haverhill had been fortified 
to some extent, the towns to the 
north, Bath and Gunthwaite were 
practically deserted, and many had 
left Haverhill for their own homes. 
Among those who had left was Mrs. 
Hurd, whom her husband met at 
Concord on his way home, and from 
which place he sent back to Exeter 
urgent' appeals for help. 

Aside from this, he found that the 
new government of which he was so 
important a member was held in 
anything but high esteem by his 
constituents. Representation in the 
House of Representatives was based 
on population and Grafton Countj^ 
had but six members in a total of 
eighty-nine. The towns in that 
county and in the western part of 
the State had been settled by men 
who believed the town to be the un^t 
of government and entitled to repre- 
sentation as a to"\vn, in any legislative 
assembly. Hanover and the five 
Grafton County towns classed with 
it had refused to send a member 
and Hanover men led by Col. John 
Wheelock and Bezaleel Woodward 
had been active during the summer 
in stirring up disaffection with the 
Exeter government in the towns to 
the north, Haverhill among others. 
Col. Hurd had hardlj^ arrived home 
before the famous convention of rep- 
resentatives from Coos towms met in 
College Hall at (Dresden) Hanover to 
protest against the authority assumed 
to be exercised over them by the gov- 
ernment at Exeter. 

Col. Hurd also discovered, or at 
least thought he discovered that his 
neighbor and former associate on the 
Grafton County bench. Col. Asa Por- 
ter, was among those who were be- 
lieved to be plotting to throw Coos 
under the protection of Gen. Bur- 
goyne. Col. Hurd himself was an 
ardent revolutionist, but his associa- 
tion for years with the exclusive set 
that had been in control of the 
province, naturally made him a strong 
partisan of the government at Exeter 
in the organization of which he had 
so actively participated, and caused 



Haverhill in the War of the Revolution 



139 



him to look upon disloyalty to that 
government as little less than treason 
to the country. Col. Porter was a 
marked personality and wielded large 
influence in the early history of 
Haverhill. A graduate of Harvard 
in the Class of 1742, he had engaged 
in mercantile pursuits at Newbury- 
port for a time, till he acquired large 
landed property in Coos, and came to 
Haverhill about 1770, where he at 
once took a leading position in affairs. 
A man of large means, aristocratic in 
his tendencies and habits, he un- 
doubtedly had little sympathy with 
the revolutionary acts of his neigh- 
bors — Johnston, Hurd, Bedel, Wes- 
son, Barron and others. 

He certainly had little sympathy 
with the Exeter government. Human 
nature was much the same in 1775 
and 1776 as now. He had been 
dropped from his office of justice of 
the Comity Court on its re-organiza- 
tion, while Hurd had not only been 
retained, but had also been made 
Councillor for the County, recorder 
of deeds, county treasurer, and had 
returned home a kind of military 
dictator. It is just possible that 
Col. Hurd may have shown signs of 
consciousness of his own importance, 
which might have made his reception 
by his neighbor and former judicial 
colleague less enthusiastic than 
he wished. This much is certain: 
Col. Porter was a positive man and 
was beyond question outspoken in 
his criticism of the Exeter govern- 
ment for its neglect to send aid to the 
seriously threatened people of Coos, 
and under the circumstances he 
naturally became an object of sus- 
picion to Col. Hurd who became 
convinced that Porter was "prac- 
tising things inimical to his country. 
Col. Porter's arrest followed and, 
after examination by the Committees 
of Safety of Haverhill and Bath he 
was sent to Exeter, where he was 
tried by the Committee of Safety, 
placed under bonds to remain on his 
father's farm in Boxford, Mass., and 
only permitted to return to Haver- 
hill in November, 1777, where he re- 



sided until his death in 1818, loyal to 
his government, influential with his 
townsmen, and prominent in the af- 
fairs of his section. 

John Hurd rendered most impor- 
tant and valuable service to the 
patriot cause, though his influence in 
Haverhill, because of the Porter affair, 
and the growing disaffection of the 
people with the Exeter government 
was on the wane, and he ceased to 
take an active part in affairs after 
the former part of 1777. He returned 
to his earlier Boston home and his 
remains lie in the Old Granarj- bury- 
ing ground of that city. 

Haverhill and the towns classed 
with it refused to comply Avith the 
precepts issued in the name of the 
Council and House of Representa- 
tives, and at meetings called in 1776 
for the choice of members of the 
Council and House, chose commit- 
tees to return the precepts with rea- 
sons for non-compliance. The voters 
of Haverhill presented reasons very 
similar to those of other towns, which 
were in brief as follows: the plan of 
representation was inconsistent wdth 
the liberties of a free people; the 
classification of towns for purposes of 
representation was in violation of un- 
doubted rights inhering in towns as 
units of government; none but free- 
holders were entitled to election; no 
bill of rights had been drawn up or 
any form of government established 
subsequent to the Declaration of 
Independence ; a Council having power 
to negative proceedings of the House 
of Representatives was dangerous; 
and if a Council was to be authorized 
at all, it should be elected on a general 
ticket by the whole people instead of 
by districts. It may be noted in 
passing that not all the theories of 
government vociferously^ urged today 
are wholly new. Haverhill was cer- 
tainly' "Progressive" in 1776. 

From 1777 on, till the close of the 
Revolution, Haverhill acknowledged 
but little allegiance to the Exeter 
government. She refused representa- 
tion in the New Hampshire Legisla- 
ture, but remained steadfastly' loyal 



140 



The Granite Monthly 



to the revolutionary cause. She fur- 
nished men for defence and for ag- 
gression. She responded to calls for 
men for any service in the patriot 
cause, though preferring that the 
calls and requisitions should be made 
by the Continental Congress instead 
of the New Hampshire Government. 
Timothy Bedel returning to Haver- 
hill in 1776 after an absence of three 
or four years in Bath, again rendered 
valuable service and probably re- 
cruited more men for the patriot 
cause than any other citizen of the 
State. His grave in the old cemetery 
at Haverhill Corner is marked by a 
simple stone slab from which the in- 
scription, except that of his name, has 
been obliterated by the storms of a 
hundred years. Charles Johnston, 
who succeeded Col. Hurd in the work 
of the defence of the borders, who as 
Lieutenant-Colonel of Col. Hobart's 
regiment in Stark's brigade at Ben- 
nington, by personal bravery and 
skillful handling of his men won un- 
dying honor, rendered during all the 
years invaluable service, and became 
the most influential and prominent 
citizen of the town, doing more per- 
haps than any other to bring the 
town and section into harmony with 
the State government. His grave, 
but a few feet distant from that of 
Col. Bedel, merits a more substantial 
monument than the crumbling stone 
on which only this inscription is now 
decipherable. : 

"Col. Charles Johnston died March 5, 
1813, in his 75th year." 

Haverhill's prominence in the great 
struggle of independence was due in 
part to her geographical position. 
The town was the doorway of en- 
trance from the north to eastern New 
England and was constantly in danger 
of attack bv forces from Canada. 



The inhabitants were in almost a 
constant state of alarm from inva- 
sion from that section. Stockades 
were built at four different places for 
security and at one time people from 
Bath and Gunthwaite were gathered 
in these, through fear of an attack by 
Indians. After the fall of Ticonderoga 
in 1777, and again in 1780 there was 
special alarm. Town expenses in- 
creased and population at one time 
decreased, many, for the most part 
non-land owners, removing to more 
safe and central parts of the State; 
but through these troublous times 
men and supplies were furnished 
without wavering. There was hardly 
an able-bodied man or boy in town 
who was not at some time under en- 
listment for a longer or shorter period, 
and doing duty as scout, ranger or 
soldier of the line. 

Few descendants of these men of 
the early time are found in the 
Haverhill of the present, and it is 
significant of the changes that have 
taken place in New England popula- 
tion that the leaders in the struggles 
of that time, Hurd, Bedel, Johnston, 
Barron, Tarleton, Ladd, Simpson, 
Stevens, Richardson and Hutchins 
have no representatives in the citizen- 
ship of the town today. They are 
not, however, wholly forgotten. 

The soldiers' monument which will 
be erected in the town this present 
year will happily and appropriately 
be a memorial not only to the one 
hundred and forty-seven men of 
Haverhill who followed the flag from 
1861 to 1865, to preserve liberty and 
union, but also to the one hundred 
and nineteen men who in an earlier 
time, amid the hardships and priva- 
tions of pioneer life risked lives and 
fortunes to make liberty and union 
possible. 



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013 996 951 i^ 



